Riding a BMW S1000RR World Superbike is an intense experience, says Roland
Brown.

It's a thrilling and slightly scary moment as the BMW S1000RR crests the Imola hill, accelerating hard at about 100mph, its front tyre barely touching the ground.

By the time the bike and my heart rate are back under control, the next tight bend is looming in a fast-forward blur, so it's just as well this BMW's brakes and handling are just as good as its engine. This is not an ordinary S1000RR but BMW's factory racer: the machine on which Chaz Davies is riding in this weekend's World Superbike round at Silverstone.

The ex-airfield circuit in Northamptonshire will seem flat after Imola, but Davies and his team have had a roller-coaster ride in recent weeks. The high of the last race, in Moscow, where the Welshman followed his team-mate over the line for a triumphant one-two, was followed by the German factory's announcement that it was quitting World Superbikes at the end of this season.

That was a surprise to many because the BMW team has been doing well, its riders currently third and fifth in the championship. But although World Superbike rules dictate that bikes must be closely related to showroom models (unlike MotoGP's prototypes), competing in the global series is expensive, and sports bike sales are falling.

I can't help thinking about cost as I admire Davies's bike in the Imola pit garage. It resembles the £13,655 standard S1000RR – this season Superbikes are even required to wear stickers that resemble headlights – but wears fancy suspension components and parts handmade from carbon-fibre and aluminium. Its cost runs to six figures but you can't buy one, or even ride one, unless you're Davies or Melandri.

Except today, when I get to live out my works-racer fantasies. The Imola grandstands are empty but my stomach butterflies are flapping as mechanics unwrap the tyre warmers and push the bike into the pit lane. This is the machine on which Davies has won two races this year. He appears, looking relaxed, as a mechanic presses the starter button.

Chaz Davies

Thankfully Davies is unusually tall for a racer, at 6ft, so his bike doesn't seem cramped. But the foam pad that passes for the seat is still an intimidating place.

The BMW seems sharp and aggressive as I ride out on to the track. It barks loudly through the exhaust, then pops and bangs in annoyance as I shut off, far too early, for the first turn. The front brake is ferocious; the chassis ridiculously light, firm and responsive.

With slick Pirelli tyres hot and sticky, it's effortless to flick the bike through the chicanes with a nudge of the handlebars. Then I open the throttle and that 200-strong stable of horses is unleashed. It's a thrilling, violent experience; like riding a normal superbike with its controls turned up to 15. The acceleration is breathtaking but sophisticated electronics cut one or more cylinders to keep the front wheel near the track, and the rear one in line.

The next few laps are intense and occasionally scary. The S1000RR is ferociously fast yet surprisingly rideable for a bike that had a reputation as a bit of a brute.

"The bike used to be a beast but it's much more manageable now," says a slightly relieved Davies when I return to the pits. "It definitely has the potential to win. It's just a question of setting it up; getting it in the sweet spot." And then riding the wheels off it in this weekend's two races, before hopefully standing on the Silverstone podium. We wish him well.